


Tattoo

by xswestallen



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Missing Scene, Post-Episode: s05e03 The Death of Vibe, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-08-25 21:14:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16668406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xswestallen/pseuds/xswestallen
Summary: Sherloque's comment has Barry paying a little too much attention to Iris' shoulder.





	Tattoo

Iris purred at the touch of Barry's soft, warm lips on her skin. He started just behind her ear and worked his way down her neck. As his mouth descended, so did his hands, gliding the bra straps off his wife's arms, and then exploring her bare back. Iris closed her eyes and let herself be carried away by the bliss she felt, laying in their king sized bed on clean sheets, Barry's arms around her, and his kisses melting her like the burning candles around the room.

"Mmm, babe." Iris moaned.

Barry's lips had made it to her shoulder. He kissed and nipped at her skin, over and over. His fingers danced down her spine and she arched her back. Then, Barry's fingers traced the outline of her shoulder blade, his thumb massaging in little circles. He didn't stop. After a minute, Iris realized that Barry was only touching her shoulder. Then, he was only touching a small area on her shoulder, confining his fingers to few inches.

Iris craned her neck to see what Barry was doing. His expression was focused. He stared at her shoulder, fingers still grazing across it, as if he was studying it.

"Bear, what are you doing?" Iris asked.

Barry's eyes darted up.

"Nothing. Just kissing you."

"Why the particular interest in my shoulder tonight?"

Barry scratched his neck. His cheeks turned pink, a blush so intense inklings of it could be seen on his muscular chest.

"I thought you liked when I kiss your back."

"I do. But, that's not what you were doing." Iris said. She rolled over to face him. "You were all about my shoulder."

Barry avoided looking into her eyes. He put on his sweet, puppy dog, face to feign innocence. That's when Iris knew what he'd been doing.

She gasped, "Barry, were you feeling for my tattoo removal scar?!"

That afternoon, their new teammate, Sherloque Wells, had announced his intimate conclusion as a master detective that Iris had a tattoo as a tribute to a former lover. It was a secret regret that Iris had no intention of ever telling anyone, let alone half the people she knew. Barry's face after hearing the revelation was mortifying. Iris brushed it off at the time, hoping everyone would forget. She thought it had worked, because the rest of the day's events had driven any thoughts of her secret tattoo far from her own mind. Apparently, it was still fresh in Barry's.

"You never told me you had a tattoo!" Barry said defensively.

"Because I don't anymore. I had it removed years ago."

"You told me this scar," Barry once again moved his finger over the small lines of scar tissue. "Was from when you fell ice skating."

Iris vaguely remembered coming up with that excuse back when she and Barry first started dating. He stared at her, his eyes looking greener than usual, tinted with jealousy. Iris bit her lip.

"I lied because the truth was embarrassing."

"You can tell me anything, Iris. Tell me who you got a tattoo for."

Barry looked at Iris pleadingly.

Iris buried her face in her hands and sighed.

"Babe, it's so corny and embarrassing."

"At least tell me what the tattoo was of." Barry begged.

"Ok, fine." Iris took a deep breath and told him, "It was a little red heart."

Barry looked crestfallen.

"A heart? So it was for a former lover?" He pouted.

"That's what's so embarrassing. It was a heart that my ex had drawn for me."

"Did you get matching tattoos?" Barry asked with a not so subtle hint of horror in his voice.

"No. Uh, I guess I have to tell you the full story. But, you can't tell anybody else, ever!" Iris pointed her finger at him. "You swear?"

"Swear."

"Ok. Well, you know how I never really had a steady boyfriend in high school?"

Barry nodded. He remembered the parade of guys Iris went on first dates with back in high school all too well, as they were the objects of his envy for years.

"When I got to college, I met Gavin. He was the first friend I made on campus and had this huge crush on him. I was too shy to tell him, so I handed him a love note."

Barry smirked. Iris felt even more embarrassed.

"Wait, that's not even the embarrassing part. It gets worse." She warned. "Anyway, he said he liked me too and we started dating. When spring break rolled around, he had to go home to help his dad with some work. Since he lived so far away, we weren't going to see each other all break. To say goodbye, he wrote me this sweet love letter, kind of like the one I'd given him to tell him I liked him. He signed it with a little red heart by his name."

Barry raised an eyebrow. Iris knew he was figuring out where the story was going, but there was no way he could know just how awkward it was about to get.

"I went with some friends to the beach for spring break." Iris continued. "I brought the note with me because I thought it would romantic. A day or so into the trip, I had way too much alcohol and got this very stupid idea to get the heart from the note tattooed on me as a surprise for Gavin."

Barry's jaw dropped.

"Wait, your boyfriend didn't know?"

"No. We'd only been dating about two months when this happened. So, when we both got back to school and I showed him how I'd drunkenly committed to having his cheesy artwork on my body permanently, he got a little freaked out. To be honest, I can't blame him. He said I was moving too fast, rushed out of my dorm, and never spoke to me again."

"Oh." Barry whispered. He no longer nervous or insecure, but uncomfortable with second-hand embarrassment.

"It was humiliating. I got that stupid heart removed as soon as the semester ended, before anyone saw it. I've had the removal scar longer than I had the actual tattoo."

"So, it's not really a tribute to a former lover." Barry sighed.

"No. It's a reminder that I shouldn't go so hard on the tequila."

Iris slumped back on the pillow. Recounting the experience brought back long repressed mental cringe.

Barry put his arm around her.

"Hey, it's not that embarrassing. It was sweet."

"It was pathetic." Iris insisted.

"It was romantic."

Iris looked at Barry with a crooked eyebrow.

"How would've you reacted if two months into our relationship I tattooed your wonky, lopsided drawing of a heart on myself."

"I would've loved it!"

Iris snorted out a laugh. "You're a bad liar."

"I'm serious. Iris, I was ready to commit to you since the 7th grade."

"Really?"

"Yeah, if the law didn't mandate you be 18 to get a tattoo, I would've had Iris tattooed on my face by my 15th birthday."

Iris giggled into Barry's chest. He stoked her hair with one hand and again, went to trace her shoulder scar with the other.

"Are you still jealous that I got a tattoo for someone else?" Iris asked.

"Kind of." Barry admitted. "I'm sorry if it's possessive, but I don't like the idea of some other guy's mark on you like that."

Iris looked up at him with lustful eyes. She used her elbows to squish her breasts closer together.

"Then, make your own mark on me."

Barry's boyish grin transformed into a cocky gleam. He wasted no time. He grabbed Iris and rolled her over so he was on top of her. His kiss stole her breath.

* * *

 

The next morning, Iris looked at herself in the mirror as she was getting dressed. As she was putting on her necklace, she noticed a bruise on her skin, just below her left collar bone. She moved her finger over it, fondly remembering how it had gotten there. In the mirror's reflection, Iris saw Barry smirking.


End file.
